Global InformationCarlson Baker Arts information
 | |
| Industry | Art fabrication |
|---|---|
| Founded | Los Angeles, California, United States (1971) |
| Founder | Peter Carlson |
| Headquarters | Sun Valley, California, United States |
Area served | International |
Key people | Peter Carlson, John Baker, Diana Campbell |
| Services | Art fabrication, Engineering, Design development |
| Owners | Peter Carlson, John Baker |
| Website | Carlson Baker Arts |
Carlson Baker Arts is an American company that provides custom fabrication and engineering services to artists, architectural firms and commercial companies.[1][2][3] Based in Sun Valley, California, the company is most known for its work for artists such as Ellsworth Kelly,[4] Jeff Koons,[5] Christian Moeller,[6] Isamu Noguchi,[7] and Claes Oldenburg / Coosje van Bruggen,[8] among others.[1][9] The firm was founded by Peter Carlson in 1971, and has been headed by Carlson and John Baker as partners since mid-2010.[9][10] Fabricators like Carlson Baker assist in producing technically challenging, large-scale industrial, labor-intensive, or otherwise complex artworks beyond the capacities of artists and companies.[11][5] Their technical services may range from 3D scanning and modeling to advanced machining, milling, and finishing to assembly, shipping, and installation.[12][1]
Art writers describe the company as one of the field's pioneering and leading fabricators;[13][1][14][12] in 2007, when Artforum gathered a roundtable to discuss the history and growth of art fabrication, it included Carlson and his partner of the time, Ed Suman, as leaders who had "helped realize some of the most technologically ambitious artworks" of the time.[15] Art historian Michelle Kuo described the company as embodying "a growing convergence of artisanal craft, the factory model of production, and the organizational services and informatics that bind these elements together."[16] Specific projects that Carlson Baker has fabricated include: Koons's Balloon Dog series (1996–2010);[12] public sculptures by Oldenburg and van Bruggen (Typewriter Eraser – Scale X, 1999),[17] Moeller (Verdi, 2012),[18] and Tony Tasset (Rainbow, 2012);[19][20] and Kelly's "Panel" and "Totem" series.[21][22]
- ^ a b c d Jori Finkel, "At the Ready When Artists Think Big," The New York Times, April 27, 2008. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Michelle Kuo, "Industrial Revolution: The History of Fabrication," Artforum, August 2007. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ John Morell, "Assembly Crew for Sculptors: Peter Carlson, whose firm executes often demanding plans for large or unique pieces, plays contractor in the artistic process," Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1993. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Suzanne Muchnic, "Ellsworth Kelly dies at 92; artist was master of geometric abstraction,", Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ a b Nancy Hess, "Are Fabricators the Most Important People in the Art World?" The New York Times, June 22, 2018. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Anthony Clark Carpio, "IKEA Burbank unveils its public art piece," Los Angeles Times, December 15, 2017. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ The Noguchi Museum, "Curator's Talk with Peter Carlson," Programs, 2013. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Barry Newman, "Behind Some Great Artists Are the Skills of a Fabricator,", The Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2002. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ a b Danielle Child, Working Aesthetics: Labour, Art and Capitalism, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Carlson Baker Arts, "About," Carlson Baker Arts website. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Paul Young, "Those Fabulous Fabricators and Their Finish Fetish," L.A. Weekly, January 9, 2008. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ a b c Julian Hoeber, "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of," Artslant, May 25, 2010. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Peter Lunenfeld, "Art and Technology," Artforum, July 2015. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Guy Raz, "An Art Factory Goes Out of Business," All Things Considered, NPR, May 30, 2010. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Artforum, "The Producers: A Roundtable," Artforum, October 2007. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Michelle Kuo, "Test Sites: Fabrication," in Contemporary Art: 1989 to the Present, Alexander Dumbadze and Suzanne Hudson (eds), Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
- ^ Denver Art Museum, "Bruggen, Part 1 of 2,". Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Americans for the Arts, "Verdi," Public Art Network. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Andrew Khouri, "Culver City's 94-foot-tall rainbow pays homage to 'Wizard of Oz,'" Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2012. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ CODAworx, "Rainbow," Projects, CODA: Collaboration of Design + Art. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, "Biography," Ellsworth Kelly website. Accessed April 15, 2019.
- ^ Eileen Kinsella, "First-Ever Ellsworth Kelly Building to Be Built at University of Texas," Artnet, February 5, 2015. Accessed April 15, 2019.